The New York Times has a long piece today about the way Annissa Essaibi George has ramped up her Boston accent, in her uniquely Anissa Essaibi George way (in which she admits to doing so then says it doesn't matter). The story quotes her, a HiPahk supporter of Michelle Wu, an accent coach and some guy who says he only started dropping his Rs harder when his mother told him to pronounce them if he wanted to get ahead in life. Read more.

Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law School professor and Brookline resident, charges the New York Times committed "clickbait defamation" in a headline and lead paragraph that made it sound he was condoning MIT professors and administrators taking money from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when, he says, he wasn't. Read more.

Alex Kingsbury, formerly deputy Ideas editor at the Globe, is joining the New York Times as a senior staff editor for the editorial board, where he will write editorials, work on efforts similar to the Globe's national "the press is not the enemy effort" and will also help with the Times's technology coverage.

The Gray Lady begins a profile of our Barbara Lynch:

BOSTON - Barbara Lynch never thought she would end up in South Boston.

The chef is a fierce Southie, a local term for this neighborhood and the people who built it.

As Luke O'Neil, who spotted the passage, notes:

That's... not a thing.

The other day, the New York Times wrote about the South Boston snow pile that will not die. The Washington Post today follows up with a report on how Bostonians apparently think that's funny. Here's hoping somebody at the Chicago Tribune (hint, hint) follows up with a report on what we think about the WashPo coverage of the Times coverage.

The snow pile through the ages.

Katherine Seelye, the New York Times correspondent who has better places to be than Boston, but for some reason remains stuck here, opens a report on the Walsh transition today by mentioning that Tom Menino "is widely credited with transforming Boston from something of a backwater into a world-class city with a gleaming new seaport and innovation district."

Oops, they did it again. The New York Times, which hates when people post copies of its work, posted a copy of a Boston Review article without permission. The Phoenix's Carly Carioli, who called out the Gray Lady for posting a story now owned by the Phoenix just the other day, does the honors again:

All the news that's fit to print about Boston: Now that the Big Dig is done, Paul Revere wouldn't recognize the place. You can get some great Italian food in Little Italy - which is also the place to rub shoulders with "Sam Adams-swilling frat boys." Boston hipsters drink 'Gansetts instead of PBR. Boston still sucks when compared to New York, but we have some cute little restaurants, some with music (and remember: "you can't visit Boston, smell a salt breeze and not want to eat seafood").

Seems Mary Tripsas, a Harvard Business School professor, accepted a free flight to 3M's headquarters, then wrote about how wonderful its "innovation" center in her New York Times column. Only problem, as NYTpicker points out, The Times says freelancers aren't supposed to accept free trips from companies they write about. Prof says she was invited because she teaches at Harvard, not because she writes for the Times, so everything's cool.

The Times published a nice obituary for Brother Blue the other day - three weeks after his death. And, of course, this being the Times, they couldn't rely on other media accounts of his death: "The death was confirmed by his wife, Ruth."

Via eagle-eyed John Carroll.